極具珍藏價值的翻譯方法 （續(xù)3）

英語中被動語態(tài)的使用范圍極為廣泛,尤其是在科技英語中,被動語態(tài)幾乎隨處可見,凡是在不必、不愿說出或不知道主動者的情況下均可使用被動語態(tài),因此,掌握被動語態(tài)的翻譯方法,對于碩士研究生入學(xué)考試的復(fù)習(xí)與應(yīng)考是極為重要的,因為在碩士研究生入學(xué)考試中，英譯漢文章的內(nèi)容多以科普文章為主。在漢語中,也有被動語態(tài),通常通過“把”或“被”等詞體現(xiàn)出來,但它的使用范圍遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)小于英語中被動語態(tài)的使用范圍,因此英語中的被動語態(tài)在很多情況下都翻譯成主動結(jié)構(gòu)。對于英語原文的被動結(jié)構(gòu),我們一般采取下列的方法:

1.翻譯成漢語的主動句。英語原文的被動結(jié)構(gòu)翻譯成漢語的主動結(jié)構(gòu)又可以進一步分為幾種不同的情況。

(1)英語原文中的主語在譯文中仍做主語。在采用此方法時,我們往往在譯文中使用了“加以”, “經(jīng)過”, “用……來”等詞來體現(xiàn)原文中的被動含義。例如:

例1. Other questions will be discussed briefly.

其它問題將簡單地加以討論。

例2. In other words mineral substances which are found on earth must be extracted by digging, boring holes, artificial explosions, or similar operations which make them available to us.

換言之,礦物就是存在于地球上,但須經(jīng)過挖掘、鉆孔、人工爆破或類似作業(yè)才能獲得的物質(zhì)。

例3. Nuclear power\'s danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.

核能對健康、安全,甚至對生命本身構(gòu)成的危險可以用一個詞 - 輻射來概括。

(2)將英語原文中的主語翻譯為賓語,同時增補泛指性的詞語(人們,大家等)作主語。例如:

例1. It could be argued that the radio performs this service as well, but on television everything is much more living, much more real.

可能有人會指出,無線電廣播同樣也能做到這一點,但還是電視屏幕上的節(jié)目要生動、真實得多。

例2. Television, it is often said, keeps one informed about current events, allows one to follow the latest developments in science and politics, and offers an endless series of programmes which are both instructive and entertaining. (85年考題)

人們常說,電視使人了解時事,熟悉政治領(lǐng)域的最新發(fā)展變化,并能源源不斷地為觀眾提供各種既有教育意義又有趣的節(jié)目。

例3. It is generally accepted that the experiences of the child in his first years largely determine his character and later personality.

人們普遍認(rèn)為，孩子們的早年經(jīng)歷在很大程度上決定了他們的性格及其未來的人品。

另外,下列的結(jié)構(gòu)也可以通過這一手段翻譯:

It is asserted that …有人主張……

It is believed that …有人認(rèn)為……

It is generally considered that …大家(一般人)認(rèn)為

It is well known that …大家知道(眾所周知)……

It will be said …有人會說……

It was told that …有人曾經(jīng)說……

(3)將英語原文中的by, in, for等做狀語的介詞短語翻譯成譯文的主語,在此情況下,英語原文中的主語一般被翻譯成賓語。例如:

例1. A right kind of fuel is needed for an atomic reactor.

原子反應(yīng)堆需要一種合適的燃料。

例2. By the end of the war, 800 people had been saved by the organization, but at a cost of 200 Belgian and French lives.

大戰(zhàn)結(jié)束時,這個組織拯救了八百人,但那是以二百多比利時人和法國人的生命為代價的。

例3. And it is imagined by many that the operations of the common mind can be by no means compared with these processes, and that they have to be acquired by a sort of special training. (93年考題)

許多人認(rèn)為,普通人的思維活動根本無法與科學(xué)家的思維過程相比,而且認(rèn)為這些思維過程必須經(jīng)過某種專門的訓(xùn)練才能掌握。

(4)翻譯成漢語的無主句。例如:

例1. Great efforts should be made to inform young people especially the dreadful consequences of taking up the habit.

應(yīng)該盡最大努力告? nbsp|年輕人吸煙的危害,特別是吸上煙癮后的可怕后果。(82年考題)

例2. By this procedure, different honeys have been found to vary widely in the sensitivity of their inhibit to heat.

通過這種方法分析發(fā)現(xiàn)不同種類的蜂蜜的抗菌活動對熱的敏感程度也極為不同。

例4. Many strange new means of transport have been developed in our century, the strangest of them being perhaps the hovercraft.

在我們這個世紀(jì)內(nèi)研制了許多新奇的交通工具,其中最奇特的也許就是氣墊船了。

例5. New source of energy must be found, and this will take time….

必須找到新的能源，這需要時間……(91年考題)

另外,下列結(jié)構(gòu)也可以通過這一手段翻譯:

It is hoped that …希望……

It is reported that …據(jù)報道……

It is said that …據(jù)說……

It is supposed that …據(jù)推測……

It may be said without fear of exaggeration that …可以毫不夸張地說……

It must be admitted that …必須承認(rèn)……

It must be pointed out that …必須指出……

It will be seen from this that …由此可見……

(5)翻譯成帶表語的主動句。例如:

例1. The decision to attack was not taken lightly.

進攻的決定不是輕易作出的。

例2. On the whole such an conclusion can be drawn with a certain degree of confidence, but only if the child can be assumed to have had the same attitude towards the test as the other with whom he is being compared, and only if he was not punished by lack of relevant information which they possessed. (92年考題)

總的來說,得出這種結(jié)論是有一定程度把握的,但必須具備兩個條件:能夠假定這個孩子對測試的態(tài)度和與他比較的另一個孩子的態(tài)度相同;他也沒有因為缺乏別的孩子已掌握的有關(guān)知識而被扣分。

(注意上述翻譯技巧在該句翻譯中的綜合運用。)

2.譯成漢語的被動語態(tài)。英語中的許多被動句可以翻譯成漢語的被動句。常用“被”, “給”, “遭”, “挨”, “為……所”, “使”, “由…”, “受到”等表示。例如:

例1. Early fires on the earth were certainly caused by nature, not by Man.

地球上早期的火肯定是由大自然而不是人類引燃的。

例2. These signals are produced by colliding stars or nuclear reactions in outer space.

這些訊號是由外層空間的星球碰撞或者核反應(yīng)所造成的。

例3. Natural light or “white” light is actually made up of many colours.

自然光或者“白光”實際上是由許多種顏色組成的。

例4. The behaviour of a fluid flowing through a pipe is affected by a number of factors, including the viscosity of the fluid and the speed at which it is pumped.

流體在管道中流動的情況,受到諸如流體粘度、泵送速度等各種因素的影響。

例5. They may have been a source of part of the atmosphere of the terrestrial planets, and they are believed to have been the planetesimal-like building blocks for some of the outer planets and their satellites.

它們可能一直是地球行星的一部分大氣的來源。它們還被認(rèn)為是構(gòu)成外部行星以及其衛(wèi)星的一種類似微星的基礎(chǔ)材料。

例6. Over the years, tools and technology themselves as a source of fundamental innovation have largely been ignored by historians and philosophers of science. (95年考題)

工具和技術(shù)本身作為根本性創(chuàng)新的源泉多年來在很大程度上被科學(xué)史學(xué)家和科學(xué)思想家們忽視了。

例7. Whether the Government should increase the financing of pure science at the expense of technology or vice versa (反之) often depends on the issue of which is seen as the driving force. (95年考題)

政府是以減少技術(shù)的經(jīng)費投入來增加純理論科學(xué)的經(jīng)費投入,還是相反,這往往取決于把哪一方看作是驅(qū)動的力量。

例8. The supply of oil can be shut off unexpectedly at any time, and in any case, the oil wells will all run dry in thirty years or so at the present rate of use.

石油的供應(yīng)可能隨時會被中斷;不管怎樣，以目前的這種消費速度，只需30年左右，所有的油井都會枯竭。